ServiceMaster Restoration by Zaba

Remember that time when it rained 2 ½ inches in 30 minutes? Yeah. That night, within moments, my tenants’ garden apartment was literally under water: 9:30 at night, the three of us were running around, screaming, throwing towels everywhere, but it was like using a cotton ball to soak up a river. The next morning, I went on Unilocal and randomly chose Servicemaster by Zaba to clean up the mess. Here’s how it went down: I called the Zaba office and the phone was answered immediately by a real person; my insurance information was recorded and I was told crews could be out within 30 minutes (!wow!); within that time, at least two trucks showed up, workers spilled out, and the mitigation began. Every bit of wet material — from carpet to drywall to cabinets — was removed immediately to prevent mold and further damage, and what remained was sanitized. Drying equipment was placed throughout and the big dry out began.
But then came a SNAFU. A big one. One that made me cry. My insurance (ALLSTATE) said they would deny the claim. Why? After first approving my claim, the adjuster came back and quoted my uneducated description, deciding against coverage. Mind you, the adjuster did NOT bother to visit the apartment. Moreover, I do not know an overhead injector pump from a sump pump, seepage from back up, sewer this or sewer that, or other specialized insurance lingo. All I knew is that water was ankle deep in my apartment and it was an unlivable mess. Now, Allstate was making it a catastrophe!!! So much for those «good hands!»
However, I didn’t have to worry: Neil Omar, owner of Servicemaster by Zaba, personally came to my home to help me. We did a walk through of my whole place, looked at the pumps, drains, and sewer locations. Then, we got on the phone with Allstate and talked to the adjuster’s manager. Within a few minutes, my claim was approved.
I am not naïve that Neil had a vested interest in the deal. But if not for him, I would have gotten screwed. He would have gotten paid either way but, instead, he worked ON MY BEHALF. That’s customer service — for ZABA, the CUSTOMER comes first!

Our worst nightmare happened two days ago. The storm hit, the lights went out and our basement flooded due to a backed up Chicago sewer. Sewage poured in from our toilet, shower drain and utility drain into our lower level. Horrific mess left behind.
I called Service Master in a panic at about 10 p.m. and they connected me with Service Master by Zaba on Central Park Ave. Their incredibly nice and helpful dispatcher Diana called me right away, talked me off the ledge and told me she’d do what she could to get someone to come out that evening to assess our situation. I was ready to stay up as long as it took so that the water wouldn’t sit too long. She was able to get someone to me by 3am that evening. Louis, Neil and crew came and spent a lot of time going over the estimate with us. We asked that they come back first thing in the morning after we talked to the insurance company and got some rest. They said no problem, we’d be their first stop. They left fans and came first thing the next morning as promised and worked until 7:30 pm clearing out carpet, padding, drywall, damaged goods. They cleaned, swept, moved salvaged things to the garage and disinfected. The crew was especially cheerful and sympathetic as the loss began to sink in.
They checked in with me often and finished the job without compliant leaving their fans behind to dry the place out for a few days. In fact, it struck me that they were actually having fun. Given the nature of the work and how hard they were working, it amazed me how positive and pleasant the crew remained throughout that long day. They came back today to collect the fans and do whatever I needed done from moving stuff into the garage to sweeping up. I really couldn’t have asked for me.
We still have a long road ahead of us, but at least the first big step was made a lot easier thanks to the highly professional crew from Service Master by Zaba.

I had a great experience with service masters following my basement being flooded on June 15^th 2015. I received estimates from several of the big name competitors and Neil gave the best estimate by far. They showed up promptly and did great work mitigating my flood damage. The entire crew including the office staff made sure that I knew my business was important to them. I will definitely go to service masters first if I need any of the services that they provide.

Once again I experienced water damage, this time it was really bad. I’m so sick of Chicago weather! I called ServiceMaster for the second time given that my first experience with them was awesome. I came home after work and it was raining in my house. Not sure where the water was coming from since it was coming down all over the house. It was a nightmare. I called Neil and he came out right away. He helped me call my insurance company and explain the situation. I can honestly say I love State Farm!
My family and I had to move out, my first level and basement were completely gutted out, the crew was outstanding and compassionate, we were in panic mode during this whole time, we didn’t think we would be coming home to move out over night. ServiceMaster sent a team of ladies that helped my wife go through her damaged contents and helped her boxed things up for out move, if it wasn’t for them my wife would have been lost with everything going on.
I was so glad that I called ServiceMaster, they really helped me and wife feel better about the entire process even though we were in a crazy situation. We are still living in a hotel and repairs should be done in a month, ServiceMaster will be helping us move back to our place and will provide a thorough general cleaning which my wife is looking forward too. Thank you for your understanding and patience during our transition in this crazy chaos. Did I mention I had 4 burst pipes? My next move will be to a warmer climate! Thanks again ServiceMaster.

I experienced a toilet overflow that affected both levels of my home, i called ServiceMaster, they arrived quickly and handled the entire process very professional and honest, I was very pleased with their service and will recommend them to other friends.

They took forever to do a simple assessment, ‘forgot’ to bring the right drying equipment and then were late for very follow up visit, sometimes up to an hour, and never called to give notice.

These guys are awesome, especially Neil. I haven’t actually used them for cleaning yet, but in terms of their customer service, price estimates, and advice, they were super accommodating! I’m waiting to hear back from my insurance company before I use their services, but I have to give them an A+ for customer service and ensuring that I feel comfortable with everything before they proceed. Neil is great! He knows his stuff and took extra time to discuss everything with me!